


Running In

by Shanoodle



Category: Mother 3, Mother : EarthBound Zero
Genre: Friendship, Gay, I don't know what to put here, M/M, Romance, really gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-22 11:15:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4833359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shanoodle/pseuds/Shanoodle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a race, Claus takes Ninten to see the Dragos. They wind up sharing a little more than a fun day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Running In

Claus raced through the forest, ducking under tree limbs and leaping over animals that crossed his path. His legs ached. He wasn’t sure if the thumping in his ears was his heart, his footsteps, or the boy behind him.

They had been running for half an hour. By now, the treetops were so bunched together that only a few rays of sunlight shone through. The sky was relegated to spots of blue.

A finger tapped his shoulder. Claus looked, and Ninten bolted past him, a smirk on his face.

“Oh, no you don’t!” The ginger laughed and sped up. He couldn’t close the arms-length gap between them, but he made it stop growing.

“Come on,” Ninten yelled. “I know you’re faster than that!”

The path started to curve right. Up ahead and through the trees, Claus could see glimpses of rock.

_Here we go,_ he thought.

The ginger hunched down, then shot forward as fast as he could.

It felt like every step was beating the breath out of his lungs. The pain flared. He squinted his eyes. In their edges, the forest became a blur of green and brown; the only things that remained clear were the dirt path, Ninten, and the mountain in the distance.

Inch by inch, Claus closed the gap. They were soon running side by side.

“See ya at the finish line, loser!” The ginger stuck out his tongue, and he passed by.

Eventually, Claus reached the mountain. He smacked his palm on the rock, breathing hard. Seconds later, Ninten arrived . He was in the same state.

“Told you I was faster,” Claus said, smirking.

“The only reason you beat me is ‘cause you know the place.” Ninten pulled out his inhaler and took a hit. “You’re pretty quick, but if I knew it as good as you, I totally would’ve won. No sweat.”

“Nuh-uh. You’re so slow I could beat you walking.”

Ninten shook his head. “Well, when ya beat me again, we’ll see. But for now, I’m still the fastest.”

“C'mon, just accept that I beat you.”

Ninten looked up. “Why’d we come here?”

Claus glared at him, then sighed. “We’re gonna scale this thing. I got some friends who live up top.”

“But I’ve never climbed a mountain!”

“I have.” Claus chuckled, then reached into his pockets. He pulled out a wall staple.

“What’s that supposed to be?”

“Our way up!” Claus held them high. The metal seemed to glow. “We’ll just shove these in and use 'em as a ladder.”

“How’re you gonna shove a staple into solid rock?”

Claus balled his hand into a fist and drew it back. “Like this.”

And he punched the staple right through the rock. It went in crooked, and looked as though whoever stood on it would slide off.

Ninten stepped forward and placed his foot on top of it. He pressed down. The staple didn’t move.

“Least it’s sturdy, I guess.”

“Of course it is.” Claus got out a fistful of staples. “The guy who makes these is a master thief. When he’s gotta climb something, he always uses wall staples.”

“Rad. Does he have a giant wall stapler too? Does he just lug it around every night?”

Claus snorted. “If he does, nobody’s ever seen it. He’s just that good.” He drew both hands back. “Alright, watch this.”

The ginger puffed out his chest, spun around, then hurled the staples into the rock like a ninja. And as he whittled down the pile, he kept climbing farther and farther up, until he reached the top. All of them had gone in just as crooked as the first.

_Awesome._

Claus stood on the cliff, throwing his fists up for good measure. He turned around.

Ninten was halfway up, and climbing slowly after him. He lifted one foot, inched it down on the next staple, and stumbled on it.

“Crap,” Claus said, coming to the edge of the cliff.

Ninten kept his grip, but his legs now dangled in the air.

“You alright,” the ginger yelled.

“Yeah.” Ninten swung his legs back up, regaining his foothold.“I’m fine. Just gimme a sec.”

Claus lay on his belly, biting his lip. If Ninten fell, the ginger couldn’t blame it on the other’s clumsiness, as easy as it would be. It was him who set the staples. If Ninten did fall, it would be his fault. Nobody else would know except them, but that would be enough.

The ginger’s arms started to slip over the edge. He could have reached out and touched the boy’s hat.

Ninten’s foot slipped. The staple he was standing on gave out. And he was dangling again.

“This just ain’t my day,” he said, giggling.

Claus swallowed. The image of Ninten falling flashed across his mind. He heard a thud. And then, a snap.

His arm shot downward. “Grab my hand.”

“What?” Ninten climbed another staple, this time without using his legs. “I’m almost up though!”

“Just do it, okay?!”

“Alright, alright! Jeez.”

Ninten took one hand off the staple, reached up, and locked fingers with his. Claus gripped the other boy’s wrist. He got to his knees, then pulled him up. His arms trembled as he did.

A moment later, they were lying side by side, still holding hands. Ninten’s felt warm and rough as dirt.

“You thought I’d fall, didn’t you?” Ninten said.

“Well, yeah.” Claus swallowed. “You’re a little clumsy.”

Their breaths came slow and loud. The thumping in Claus’s ears was even louder.

“You’re a total sap,” Ninten said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I have Lifeup and Healing, remember? If I fell and broke something, I could’ve fixed it. No sweat.”

Claus opened his eyes. “Oh.”

Ninten giggled and squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. If I were you, I probably wouldn’t think of it either. Your brain kinda goes on auto-pilot with that stuff.”

Claus heaved a sigh. “I guess so.”

“It was awful swell of you, though.”

“And you call  _me_ a sap.” Claus squeezed back. “Besides, it ain’t any fun kicking your butt if you got a broken leg.”

“Pft. Whatever.” Ninten’s hand slipped away. “You said you had friends here?”

Claus got to his feet. “Yeah! Known 'em since childhood. I  think you’ll like 'em.”

They turned around. Rocky walls as tall as buildings formed a path straight ahead. In the distance, the path opened up to a circular patch of grass.

“It’s right down there,” the ginger said as they started walking.

“But I don’t see any houses.” Ninten paused. “This ain’t gonna be some hippie crap, right? Like, when we get there, you’re not gonna whistle and have a bunch'a animals come out?

"What? No!” And then he murmured, “Not a bunch.”

“Okay, good.”

They stepped onto the grass. Farther ahead, the path continued.

“So now what?” said Ninten.

Claus raised a finger and thumb to his lips. And he blew a whistle.

A monstrous thud echoed through the air, shaking the ground. It seemed to come from everywhere at once.

“What the heck was that?!” Ninten scooted closer to Claus. Another thud came, louder this time.

“Look up.”

All around, the heads of Dragos big and small were peeking over the walls, looking down at them.

Ninten started to back away.

“No no,” said Claus. “It’s cool! These are my friends.”

“T-that right? They’re awful big friends.”

“Yeah. Some of them can get up to 30 feet!”

“Oh wow. That’s … umm, pretty cool.”

One of the Dragos – a teal one – leapt from his spot, landing with a crash in front of the boys. It felt like someone had shaken the entire island.

“Hey there,” Claus said. The Drago leaned its head down; Claus reached up and stroked his leathery cheek.

The ginger looked at Ninten. “Well, go on. Pet him.”

“Does he bite?”

“Not hard.”

Ninten’s face was white as milk. The Drago uttered a groan, his eyes wide and locked on the boy.

“Aw, look at him. How can you say no a face like that?”

“It ain’t as hard as you think.”

“Come on, just do it. For me?” And Claus mimicked the Drago’s look.

Ninten shook his head. “Fine. For you.”

He edged toward the creature, his hand outstretched. They faced each other.

“God, its eyes’re as big as my head,” Ninten mumbled.

“C'mon, keep going.”

The boy did so. And soon, his fingers were touching the Drago’s snout.

“N-nice critter,” he said.

The Drago nudged the boy with his head. He groaned again.

“Look at that,” Claus said. “He likes ya!”

Ninten grazed his fingers over the Drago’s head. The Drago tilted it, his ears twitching.

“Hey … this ain’t so bad.” He pushed his hand down. “I guess he is kinda cute.”

“I told ya. Dragos are big softies for the most part.

Ninten looked at him. ”'For the most part?’“

"He loves play-fighting.”

He returned to the Drago, his lips twitching into a grin. “Keeps getting better and better.”

The Drago rumbled and headbutted him again, making him stumble.

“Yeah.” Claus smirked. “And he wants you to play.”

“ _Me?_  But look at him! I’ll get smashed to bits!”

“Aww, don’t be a wimp. What happened to all that courage back there?”

“I wasn’t dealing with a dinosaur.”

“Oh, c'mon. He’s not gonna hurt ya! Ain’t that right, boy?”

The Drago lifted his head back up. His mouth stretched jaggedly cross his face; he looked like he was smiling.

Ninten ran a hand over his face. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Back up, then ram into him”

“You’re telling me to ram into a dinosaur.”

“Damn right I am.” Claus flashed a thumbs-up and moved away from the Drago. “You can do this!”

“Alright.” Ninten sucked in a breath. His lips spread into a smile of its own.“Alright, yeah, I can do this. No sweat!”

The boy took a step back. Then another. Then another.

Claus’s muscles tensed. Nothing bad would ever happen, but watching someone – especially a best friend – ram a Drago for the first time was still exciting to watch. He thought back to the first time he met a Drago; how he hid behind his father, how slimy her tongue felt when she licked him, the rush he felt when he rammed and knocked her down, and how hard he laughed when she hopped back up, that same jagged smile on her face.

As he watched, Claus imagined Ninten laughing. And he kept that sound in his mind, as though he was clinging to it.

Ninten now stood about fifteen feet from the Drago. He glanced at the ginger.

“Do it,” Claus mouthed.

Ninten nodded and faced the Drago. They watched each other. All around, the rest of the Dragos were tilting their heads and getting closer.

And then, Ninten bellowed and charged.

He barreled his shoulder straight into the Drago’s legs. It lolled its head, uttered a moan, and started to fall over. Ninten sprang away, dashing to Claus’s side as the creature thudded against the ground.

“Whoa,” Claus said, looking at his face. “You took down a Drago!”

Ninten frowned. “There’s no way a little guy like me could do that. I didn’t even use PSI.”

_Damn it. Almost had him, too_.

The Drago leaned his head up, glancing at the boys, before climbing to his feet.

“Okay, you didn’t actually take down a Drago.” Claus shook Ninten’s shoulder. “But you still rammed him! Wasn’t that fun?”

He faced the ginger, glaring into his face.

“No.”

_No? No?! But that had to work! Nothing’s more fun than Dragos! How could I mess–_

Ninten cupped Claus’s cheeks.

“That was  _awesome!_ ”

Claus beamed at the boy. Then punched his arm.

“Ow!” Ninten let go, wincing. “What the heck was that for?”

“Scaring me twice today.”

“You could'a just told me so.”

“I did. With my fist!”

“You’re such a dork.” Ninten wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulled him in, and planted a kiss on his lips.

_Wha–_

“C'mon, let’s play with the Dragos!”

The boy turned around. He began to run. Claus grabbed him by the shirt and yanked him back.

“You think you can do  _that_ and just run off?”

“I’m sor–mmph.”

The ginger had spun Ninten back around and returned the favor. To him, the boy’s lips felt as warm and rough as his hands. Was it supposed to feel like this, or was he actually made of sandpaper? There wasn’t an answer. Claus didn’t need one. He only pressed harder and let Ninten’s arms wrap around him.

Soon. they broke the kiss, gasping for air like fish out of water.

“Why haven’t we done this before?” Claus said.

“I dunno.” Ninten twirled a finger through his hair. “Too shy?”

“I wasn’t being serious. Loser.”

Ninten blew a raspberry and pushed himself out of his arms.

“You… .” The ginger wiped a hand across his face. “I’m gonna pull out that tongue!”

“Try it! I’m still the fastest, ya know?!” Ninten sped off toward the center of the grass, Claus right behind him.

And for the rest of the afternoon, they ran around, play-fought with the Dragos, and even rode them once or twice.  By the time the sun started setting, they could hardly walk. But walk they did, all the way back to Tazmily.

Ninten was the first one there.


End file.
